I rebooted in safe mode through the msconfig command as I couldn't work out how to do it the other way

I tried chkdsk c:/f/r

It wouldn't do it as it said the drive was being used for another program. It asked if I would like to run chkdsk on reboot, which I said yes to

So ir rebooted and started doing chkdsk but hung up on step 4 of 5 - veryfying file data at 24%

So I switched the machine off

Started it up again and it started running chkdsk again, it said if I wish to skip this process to press any key. pressed a few keys and it carried on with chkdsk and locked up again. It won't let me skip the chkdsk process and it won't complete, so I can't boot my machine

Then try doing the Check Disc command and restarting and how far it gets,

RichardJacobs

26-10-2007, 12:51

i am good at computers!

first thing

go to comets and buy windows vista ultimate CD and go back to ur pc and erase the hard drives u got and put the vista cd out of the box and install it on your pc all the way and you need to put the activation code on ;)

Adam D

26-10-2007, 12:58

Or you can just not bother reading that post as its not very helpful ;)

:)

Jules

26-10-2007, 13:01

I am pretty sure the pc is starting in safe mode as I went through msconfig and ticked the box in the boot page to start in in safe mode

When I do press F8, I get a choice to boot from the 2 cd drives or the hard drive or 'generic storage device'(?)

No option for safe mode

I have been working from home for a while and all my bloody work is in there somewhere

Jules

26-10-2007, 13:02

who wants vista anyway?

wait till they sort it out first

timey

26-10-2007, 13:03

Sounds like the hard drive has gone tits up. This has happened to me more than once and each time the computer just started going slow, making noises etc but apart from that it seemed to work. It was always when I switched it off, thinking that a reboot would sort it, and it would not boot, because the hard-drive had given up.

As Adam says, try safe mode and if you can't get into that then the hard-drive is the likely culprit. Certainly, buying Vista would be a bit of a waste if that is the case (and I'm biased anyway - Vista is an overrated and overpriced piece of bloatware. :p)

timey

26-10-2007, 13:04

I have been working from home for a while and all my bloody work is in there somewhere

You have backups of course, though, don't you?

karnautrahl

26-10-2007, 13:15

Your heads are crashing. Hard disk heads. They should never touch the media, if they do, it buggers the media at that point.

New hard drive mate. Get one, put it as a second drive to get access to it. Install operating system on new disk and copy what you need across.

You don't say what size disk you run now-120Gb sata is about £30, same with IDE.

I personally use NOD32 as its been the best AV I've ever found--however this has no bearing on your problem-I just wanted to vent my opinion.

Adam D

26-10-2007, 13:22

Not32 is great, I use it on a few of my pc's along with Avast!.

Give this a try, Im not sure if it will bypass the Check Disc but it may do and help you save some files ect if it is a Hd problem.

One of the first things you should reach for when troubleshooting a Windows XP boot problem is a Windows startup disk. This floppy disk can come in handy if the problem is being caused when either the startup record for the active partition or the files that the operating system uses to start Windows have become corrupted.

To create a Windows startup disk, insert a floppy disk into the drive of a similarly configured, working Windows XP system, launch My Computer, right-click the floppy disk icon, and select the Format command from the context menu. When you see the Format dialog box, leave all the default settings as they are and click the Start button. Once the format operation is complete, close the Format dialog box to return to My Computer, double-click the drive C icon to access the root directory, and copy the following three files to the floppy disk:

Boot.ini
NTLDR
Ntdetect.com
After you create the Windows startup disk, insert it into the floppy drive on the afflicted system and press [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] to reboot the computer. When you boot from the Windows startup disk, the computer will bypass the active partition and boot files on the hard disk and attempt to start Windows XP normally.

Jules

26-10-2007, 13:36

You have backups of course, though, don't you?

Er nope!

When I get a working PC next thing I am buying is an external HD

timey

26-10-2007, 13:49

Er nope!

When I get a working PC next thing I am buying is an external HD
We all learn the hard way. ;)

TheMob

26-10-2007, 14:16

Try getting a copy of Knoppix and using that to see if you can recover any data from the drive. If it isn't totally screwed you may be able to get some data off it.

BTW another NOD32 fan here.

Jules

26-10-2007, 14:27

I am a bit computer illiterate

whats NOD32?
Is it an operating system?
How do I get it :)

timey

26-10-2007, 14:33

It's an antivirus program. I don't use it as it doesn't appear to be free. I use AVG free edition, whcih does everything that I need.

Adam D

26-10-2007, 14:42

IMO Avg is past it now, and Avast! is better as others agree.

timey

26-10-2007, 14:52

IMO Avg is past it now, and Avast! is better as others agree.

Not sure what "past it" means. All I need is basic AV protection, nothing super-duper. I've never had a virus anyway and didn't even have protection for about 7 years. I tried Avast but it insisted on having a silly icon spinning round in the r/h corner of my machine, which was annoying.